Spring is in the air: tips from IAM RoadSmart

The clocks have gone forward and days are longer than nights for the next six months; it’s time to get your car hale, hearty and ‘beach body ready’ in preparation for the spring. This week’s tips give advice on getting your car ready for the warmer weather, from IAM RoadSmart’s head of driving and riding standards Richard Gladman.

Lose weight; clear out those coats, boots, scarves and bags that took up permanent residence during the winter months.They add weight as well as taking up space, and surplus weight means wasted fuel

Cut down on the salt; modern cars are much less prone to rust than their forbearers, but corrosion-causing salt from gritted roads can build up under the wheel arches and the suspension.Use a hose pipe to flush the wheel arches clean; if you have a pressure washer, even better.If not, try washing the arches after driving on wet roads – the mud and grit will have softened.The neighbours might think you’re peculiar but you’ll reduce the risk of expensive repairs

Test your vision; the demister puts a film of grime from traffic fumes on the inside of the windscreen which can spread bright sunshine into a blinding glare.Get the screen squeaky clean with water and detergent, dry with a microfibre cloth and crystal clear vision will be restored.Don’t forget the other windows; clean screens rarely mist up so you’ll need the heated rear window far less – another fuel saver

Keep hay fever at bay; most cars have pollen filters, but they need changing periodically to remain efficient.Look in your handbook to find out how to get to the filter and if it looks bad, change it now.Some very good after-market filters are available online, often with a charcoal layer to filter out pollutants as well as pollen

Don’t get hot and bothered; air conditioning is a boon as the temperature rises, but it contains a special gas which can slowly leak away.If it gets too low, the aircon will blow warm instead of cold.Test it by turning the heater control to minimum, the heater fan to maximum and make sure the aircon is turned on (i.e., not in “eco” mode).If you don’t feel an icy blast after a couple of minutes, the system may need “re-gassing”; a simple job which most garages have the equipment to do

Richard said: “In conjunction with other spring cleaning treat your car, the efforts to wash and polish it will last a bit longer now the winter salt has gone. Now is a good time to spend a therapeutic Sunday morning tinkering.”

Notes to editors:

Richard Gladman is IAM RoadSmart’s head of driving and riding standards.

IAM RoadSmart has a mission to make better drivers and riders in order to improve road safety, inspire confidence and make driving and riding enjoyable. It does this through a range of courses for all road users, from online assessments through to the advanced driving and riding tests. IAM RoadSmart is the trading name of all businesses operated by the UK’s largest road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and was formed in April 2016 combining the IAM, IAM Drive & Survive, PDS and IAM Driver Retraining Academy. The organisation has 92,000 members and campaigns on road safety on their behalf. At any one time there are over 7,000 drivers and riders actively engaged with IAM RoadSmart’s courses, from members of the public to company drivers, while our Driver Retraining Academy has helped 2,500 drivers to shorten their bans through education and support programmes.

To find out more about IAM RoadSmart products and services visit the new website www.iamroadsmart.com